Nut cracker

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for cracking nuts, consisting of a vertical post rigidly attached to a base or plate, a cracking lever swiveled and pivoted to the upper end of the post and preferably vertically adjustable relatively thereto, and an anvil to receive and hold a nut to be cracked. The anvil is instantaneously vertically adjustable on and along the post, to accommodate nuts of different sizes and diameters.

United States Patent inventor William E. Davis 10309 S. Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, Fla. 33450 Appl. No. 810,523

Filed Mar. 26, 1969 Patented June 29, 1971 NUT CRACKER 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 146/16 int. Cl A23n 5/02 Field of Search 146/13, 14,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1914 Sawin 1/1942 Colvin.... 6/1961 Carlson.. 8/1962 Smith Primary Exam'inerWillie G. Abercrombie Attorney-Elizabeth Newton Dew ABSTRACT: Apparatus for cracking nuts, consisting of a vertical post rigidly attached to a base or plate, a cracking lever swiveled and pivoted to the upper end of the post and preferably vertically adjustable relatively thereto, and an anvil to receive and hold a nut to be cracked. The anvil is instantaneously vertically adjustable on and along the post, to accommodate nuts of different sizes and diameters.

PATENTEU JUN29 I97! FIG.3.

INVENTOR William E. Davis M M W ATTORNEY NUT CRACKER This invention relates to an apparatus for cracking nuts.

Among the chief objects are to provide: (a) a base-attached nut cracker which is instantaneously adjustable to nuts of any size or diameter; (b) a nut cracker which is extremely powerful in operation and efficiency, easily moved to any desired position or location of use; (c) useful as a press in the home or shop; and (d) inexpensive to manufacture, long-lived, easy to use, and a highly practical advance in the art.

Other objects and advantageswill become clear to those skilled in the art, after a study of the following detailed description, in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the complete assembly attached to a supporting base;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation with certain parts in section or broken away for greater clarity of illustration, and with the breaking lever shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the anvil forming a part of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of a modified form of breaking or crushing lever.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a mounting flange l, which may be circular, has three or more uniformly and circumferentially spaced holes by which it may be firmly attached as by wood or machine screws, to a fixed base B, which may be a portable board, table top, or work bench. A cylindrical column or post 2 has its lower end functionally and integrally fixed with base or flange l. The column or post may be cast or formed integrally with the flange, as shown, or it may be threaded into a tapped central hole in the base, or welded thereto.

The top end of post 2 is drilled and tapped, as indicated at 3, FIG. 2, to receive the threaded end of a rod 4 which is thereby rendered vertically adjustable relatively to the post, and swingable about the axis thereof to any selected position. The upper end of this rod is flattened at 5 and pierced with a pivot hole 6.

The'inner end of a lever 7 is forked at 8, FIG. I, to receive with a smooth fit, the flattened end of rod 4. The tines of the fork are pierced with'aligned holes, and a pivot pin 9 passes through the holes in the lever and rod to thus mount the lever for pivoting in a vertical plane through the central axis of post 2. Due to the threaded connection between post 2 and rod 4, the lever may be swung to any selected or desired position about the axis of the post.

An anvil or support consists of a flat steel plate which may be of stock about one-half inch thick. The anvil has a hole 11 drilled therethrough for a loose fit on and about the post 2. Merely as one example, post 2 may be three-fourths inch in diameter and hole 11 may be about one thirty-seconds inch larger diameter, so that while anvil may be easily moved vertically to any selected position on and along the post, any force having a component parallel with and laterally offset from the post, causes the anvil to be immediately fixed in position at the instantaneous location of adjustment.

The anvil is provided with a depression 12 which, as shown at FIG. 2, may be conical in diametral vertical section. Lever 7 may be a 92 inch steel bar, square in cross section. As a matter of convenience, a handle not shown, may be rigidly attached to the outer end of the lever. Transverse serrations 13 are formed in the under side of the lever at the location over depression. 12, to more firmly grip a nut resting in the depres- LII tion will lie substantially directly over depression 12 when the forked end of the lever is connected by pin 9 to the top end of rod 4, as depicted for lever 7, Fig. l. T e lower surface of nose 15 may be provided with transverse serrations like 13, FIG. 1, and for a like purpose.

The mass center of anvil 10 is radially offset from the axis of post 2 so that the anvil automatically holds itself in any position to which it may be adjusted and released. To adjust the anvil it is merely necessary to lift slightly on its end adjacent the depression 12, whereupon it may be readily moved upwardly or downwardly to a new selected location.

In use, with base or flange l firmly fixed to a support such as the top of a table, bench or board, a nut to be cracked is positioned in depression 12. If necessary, the anvil is simultaneously adjusted on and along post 2 until the nut contacts lever 7 held in essentially horizontal position or at a slightly elevated angle. Then downward force exerted on the outer end of the lever exerts a powerful cracking force upon the nut. During this operation the anvil firmly grips the post and is held both against downward and rotational movement. Due to the facile way in which the anvil may be instantaneously adjusted vertically on. and along the post, the invention makes it very easy and simple to crack nuts of different kinds or of different diameters, without loss of time. The force exerted is almost truly diametrical of each nut, so that it is cracked essentially uniformly, without excessive fragmentation of the meats, which are also readily extracted from the broken shell portrons.

Numerous changes in shape, form, dimensions and relations of the parts will become obvious to those skilled in the art, after a study of the foregoing disclosure. For instance, rod 4 may be replaced by an internally threaded cap engaging the threaded upper end of post 2, and provided with a flattened upward projection fitting smoothly between the tines of the lever. Likewise the upper end of rod 4 may be forked to receive the end of lever 7 between its tines. Hence the disclosure is to be taken in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense.

Having thus fully disclosed the invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a nut cracker, a base, a post having one end fixed with and rising vertically from said base, a lever, means pivoting said lever at one end thereof, for pivoting about a normally horizontal axis fixed adjacent and carried by said post, and an anvil having an aperture receiving said post with a loose fit for sliding adjustment on and along said post, and gripping said post by and in response to a component force offset from and parallel with said post, to thereby releasably fix the anvil in any selected position of vertical adjustment on and along the post, said post having an axial threaded bore opening through the upper end thereof, said means comprising a rod threadedly engaging said bore, and a pivot pin passing through aligned apertures in the upper end of said rod and the contiguous end of said lever.

2. The nut cracker of claim 1, the upper end of said rod being flattened, said lever having a forked end smoothly fitting about the flattened end of said rod, said aligned apertures being in and through the tines of said forked end and flattened end of said rod. 

1. In a nut cracker, a base, a post having one end fixed with and rising vertically from said base, a lever, means pivoting said lever at one end thereof, for pivoting about a normally horizontal axis fixed adjacent and carried by said post, and an anvil having an aperture receiving said post with a loose fit for sliding adjustment on and along said post, and gripping said post by and in response to a component force offset from and parallel with said post, to thereby releasably fix the anvil in any selected position of vertical adjustment on and along the post, said post having an axial threaded bore opening through the upper end thereof, said means comprising a rod threadedly engaging said bore, and a pivot pin passing through aligned apertures in the upper end of said rod and the contiguous end of said lever.
 2. The nut cracker of claim 1, the upper end of said rod being flattened, said lever having a forked end smoothly fitting about the flattened end of said rod, said aligned apertures being in and through the tines of said forked end and flattened end of said rod. 